


I Can Almost Hear Him Now

by Thaddeus_lich



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: A dash of angst with an open ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crying, Ficlet, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Jon didn't open the door, M/M, Other, Vague mentions of the other archival staff, Vaguely Lonely!Martin, ghost!jon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thaddeus_lich/pseuds/Thaddeus_lich
Summary: Inspired by the concept posted by cushfuddled on Tumblr, in which Jon dies in the coma. He becomes a ghost and after a few months of wandering, attempts to contact Martin, who has been desperately trying to say goodbye.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood & Jonathan Sims
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	I Can Almost Hear Him Now

**Author's Note:**

> This was a small gift for cushfuddled on Tumblr. At some point, I would love to revisit this concept because I had such a fun time writing it! 
> 
> Here is a link to the original post: https://cushfuddled.tumblr.com/post/617309608251441152/concept-jon-chooses-to-die-while-in-the-coma

(Set directly after Martin hears Jon’s voice on the tape after his goodbye)

“J-Jon?” Martin froze, trying not to believe his ears. Of all the cruel and unjust things that had been done to him in the past few years, this hit the hardest.

He’d tried to get over Jon, many more times than he would’ve liked to admit. The first, when they met all those years before, with Martin unceremoniously tumbling down into the depths of Jon’s dark eyes. He’d practically bolted when Jon introduced himself, offering a hand to shake, purely a workplace courtesy. Martin had taken it, all the while trying to not crumble into a million shards.

The last had been no more than an hour or two before, Martin finally sitting down to say goodbye in the office that stood practically empty for months. Martin poured his heart into that tape, though he’d initially been only wishing to tie the loose ends of Jon’s story.

It was a cruel joke when the tape appeared on his kitchen table, his words waiting patiently to be played back at him. It was a cruel joke, until he heard Jon speak.

A fuzzy fog began to settle over the room as tears clouded Martin’s eyes. Without thinking, he slammed the record button down, letting it take in the sounds of Martin’s empty apartment. He stopped it, rewound the tape, and pushed play.

“Martin? Martin! Can you hear me?” Rivers began to spill from Martin’s eyes, the fog breaking in an instant as he nodded silently to the man he could not see, to the man he had loved for so many years.

“Jon, I-“ he breathed out a small huff of air as a smile caught his face off-guard. “I thought I’d never–Jon, you’re gone. You’ve been gone for so long. I–I never thought I’d see you again.”

The air sat heavy in the room as Martin waited for a response, fingers gingerly brushing the buttons of the recorder. Martin would kick himself for weeks if he accidentally cut Jon off from speaking his soundless tune. After an eternity and a minute, he clicked the recorder off. A small thrill of joy pushed past his tears as relief rang in Jon’s voice.

“Martin, I’m so sorry. I–I wouldn’t open the door, I couldn’t give in.” There was a pause in the recording, Martin’s sniffling the only audible sound before Jon spoke again. “Martin, I never wanted to hurt you.”

[They spent the rest of the night talking, it was not the same as it had been in the past, but it was theirs. Tears were shed, laughter filled the once cold and empty apartment, and Martin felt a little less alone.]

[Things were still difficult at work. Tim was gone, Daisy still missing, Melanie distant and so painfully angry, and Basira searching, hardly stopping to eat, combing through the tapes, the files, the library for anything that could help her find her partner. Martin was not alone anymore, and slowly, his new friends weren’t either. Jon was there for them all. There could finally be a happy ending.]


End file.
